Blowup over
Blow-Down
Either the Forest Service lied or it doesn't know what
it's doing. However you cut it, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is fed
up with the Eagle Creek timber sales.
Of course, the senator would never be so direct, but that's
in essence what he said in a letter this week to Agriculture
Secretary Dan Glickman, who oversees the U.S. Forest Service.
At issue is the number of trees that may be lost as a result
of logging on the four sales, which total 1,030 acres. According
to Vanport Manufacturing, which purchased the timber, more
than half the trees on several acres of forest bordering
one of the sites have fallen over since their supportive
neighbors were cut two years ago.
That wasn't what the Forest Service promised, according
to Wyden, a long-time opponent of the Salvage Rider. The
scene at Eagle today bears little resemblance to the "before
and after" photographs the Forest Service provided when
planning the sale.
"They either designed it to result in significant blow-down...or
they miscalculated the risk," says Wyden. "We're trying
to be very diplomatic in this letter, but it doesn't add
up to me."
The Forest Service is claiming that it anticipated losing
a large number of neighboring trees. If that's true, the
senator wants to know why the agency didn't bother to mention
it before. More than 40 percent of the cutting has already
occurred on Eagle.
At this point, it's unclear what will happen as a result
of Wyden's "get-tough" stance. Wyden can't demand that Glickman
step in, but he is asking for the sales to be canceled or
at least subjected to an independent environmental analysis.
The agriculture chief, whom Wyden calls a close friend,
could put pressure on Northwest Regional Forester Harv Forsgren
to take a second look at the sale--or he could halt it himself.
The Forest Service will not comment on the letter since
it was sent to Washington, D.C. A spokesman for Glickman's
office says the letter is under review.
--Patty Wentz
THE BIGGER CHILL
The hot-and-cold relationship between the top two elected
officials in Portland plummeted below the frost line this
week when County Chair Beverly Stein very publicly asked
Mayor Vera Katz to cough up $2 million. The county wants
the money for early childhood development programs and figures
the city owes it, since the city's new North/Northeast Portland
urban renewal district will cut into the county tax base.
But the city isn't exactly flush with cash these days,
and Katz says she was "taken aback" by Stein's "public relations
blitz." With Katz in the "no" camp, Stein clearly will need
to find three votes elsewhere. City Commissioners Erik Sten
and Dan Saltzman are potential allies, but Charlie Hales
is cool to the idea. That leaves Jim Francesconi, once again,
as the probable swing vote.
And, if Stein is successful in getting her way, where would
the City Council come up with the money? "It'll come out
of commissioners' budgets," says Katz. "I can assure you."
--Philip Dawdy
SILVER AND GOLDSCHMIDT
One of the chief tasks of Steve Goldschmidt, Portland Public
Schools' new human resources director, is to deal with labor
contracts. If his own compensation is any guide, he's a
hell of a negotiator.
Although Goldschmidt's hiring was announced in a recent
schools reorganization, he actually continues to work under
a lucrative consulting contract that was extended only four
days previously.
Since December, according to district records, Goldschmidt,
the younger brother of the former governor, has been paid
$87,000 (including expenses). On an annual basis, that translates
to a salary of about $150,000--far outstripping any district
employee except Canada--for working only a couple of days
a week.
District general counsel Bruce Samson explains that contractors
are often paid more than staffers because they don't receive
benefits. Goldschmidt, however, already receives benefits
as a tenured associate professor of education at the University
of Oregon.
There is no suggestion that Goldschmidt is double-dipping.
U of O rules prohibit professors from working more than
one day a week for other employers, and Goldschmidt says
that when it became clear he would exceed that threshold,
he stuck a deal with the university to reduce his $71,739
salary by 25 percent. In addition, he plans to go on unpaid
leave in September.
But Richard Garrett, head of the teachers union, questions
the district's generosity and Goldschmidt's qualifications.
"He's never been a human resources director before," Garrett
says. "When the district did a national search a year ago,
he wasn't among the 4 finalists."
Much of the union boss's opposition stems from Goldschmidt's
management-side role in the 1987 Eugene teachers strike,
the longest in the state's history.
Garrett's unlikely to get an explanation until August,
when Canada returns from a month's vacation.
--Nigel Jaquiss
DATE: July 26, 2000
TO: The Big Carat
FROM: Location Lobbyist
RE: Project Portland
What is the sound of 100 brooks babbling? My dear, it's
applause rippling down from the West Hills and other Land
Rover ZIP codes at the news that we are finally coming to
Portland bearing designs from Paloma Picasso.
It's a sound that we hope rings loudly through the offices
of the city's urban planners, who objected to our plans
for a Tiffany's at Southwest 4th Avenue and Yamhill Street.
Why? Portland's design requirements call for broad display
windows and eye-catching corner entrances, to make the downtown
core attractive to pedestrians.
Is Portland Paris? Does anyone who's reached the age of
reason believe that Tiffany & Co.'s trademark small
display windows with black velvet and tiny jewels and its
stainless-steel vault doors wouldn't tempt people into getting
out of their cars?
Of course not, my dear. That's why, upon further reflection,
I chose to give Portland another try.
This time, I actually visited with staff at the Office
of Planning and Development Review. I was thoroughly prepared
to slum it: In this, our season of linen, I wore polyester
and was even ready to drink microbrews. But...nothing but
roadblocks! Design code this, design code that--it's enough
to make you wonder if they've even heard of Baccarat silver.
So I took a meeting with Ruth Scott, the executive director
of the Association for Portland Progress--a darling and
a real trouper. Ruthie assured me that APP could help stop
the design police. So I filed another application with the
city and the Portland Design Commission--and let APP work
its magique. Gregg Kantor, chair of its board, penned
a singing letter on our behalf to the commission. He wrote
that planners should be "facilitators" for retailers. Pretty
neat, n'est-ce pas?
And now I am tickled to report that on July 20, the design
commission took our side and approved our application.
We'll need to be open by November for the Christmas rush--and
to offer urban planners free turkeys.
Night Cabbie
BY Willie Milkis
willie_milkis@hotmail.com
BROADWAY AND BURNSIDE. It's 2:30 am; the bars are emptying,
and cabs and people are everywhere. A couple hails a cab,
a blond woman in her early 40s and a well-built black man
in his 30s. "Take us up into the hills," he tells me, passing
me a twenty and telling me to let him know when the meter
gets close and he'll add to it. He's got a deep, melodious
voice.
When we get up in the hills he just wants to drive around
for a while. They borrow my lighter and I hear them passing
a pipe and taking hits off it. There's no smell so it ain't
pot they're smoking back there. He passes the lighter up
and another twenty. "Hey cabbie, you got a radio in this
cab?" His voice is slurred, tranquil. Unfortunately, tonight
I have a cab with a broken radio. They're bummed, but I'm
more so because now I have to listen to them get all nasty
back there. I hear some clothes coming off and them shifting
around some, and some squishy sounds I really didn't need
to hear. All the same, I feel like I'm completing an important
rite of passage for cabbies. You aren't a real cabbie until
people have had sex in back of your cab. (...to be continued)
Murmurs
MORE FUN THAN THE CAMP DAVID PEACE TALKS!
Oregon Democrats didn't waste any time polishing their
attacks on the GOP veep nominee. While Murmurs was chatting
Tuesday with Neel Pender, executive director of the
Oregon Democratic Party, he gave his take on Dick Cheney,
reeling off what sounded like a Letterman script:
"I don't understand what Bush gets that he doesn't already
have. OK, some intelligence. Otherwise you get a dumpy white
military guy from a nowhere state with three electoral votes
who works with big oil companies. This reinforces all the
negative stereotypes about the Bush campaign.... I applaud
this decision."
* Two Portland artists appeared in the arts pages of The
New York Times on Friday, July 21. Filmmaker Miranda
July's fine video, Nest of Tens, is currently
featured in the New York Video Festival at Lincoln Center.
July's film was singled out as the best of one of the evenings,
and a still from Nest accompanied the article. At
the front of the section, summertime Portlander Mahesh
Dattani received a glowing review for the American premiere
of his play, Dance Like a Man.
* It looks like the Movie House, one of the city's
few remaining single-screen theaters, will be spared from
the wrecking ball, though this time it's not the McMenamin
boys coming to the rescue. The theater, located at Southwest
12th Avenue and Taylor Street, is owned by the Portland
Women's Club and operated by Regal Cinemas. Sources say
that although the Brothers M passed up an offer, the women's
club found another buyer (asking price was $600,000) who
hopes to keep the theater running. That's good news for
movie fans. With its creaking lobby full of board games
and overstuffed furniture, the Movie House has been an atmospheric
oasis in the era of the cineplex.
* Note to a certain local PR maven: Since you're
new to the job, we'll cut you some slack. But in general,
it's not smart to trash members of the press if one of them
is sitting within earshot. Sure, a lot of those free tickets
you supply don't translate into glowing reviews, but it's
the way the game is played.
* Hey Dwight, we know from where you're coming!
During last Thursday's Pet Peeve show on KPAM, afternoon
host Dwight Jaynes took a call from a listener who
complained about people who end sentences with prepositions.
Dwight enthusiastically agreed, then broke for a commercial,
reminding listeners that "Pet peeves is what we're talking
about."
Let's Get Tanked!
The leaning tower of Old Town is gone, but it shall return.
Owner Sam Naito has promised to rebuild a replica of the
old water tank, but he hasn't decided whether to repaint
"Old Town" on the new tower, emblazon it with a new phrase
or leave it blank.
To help out, WW is offering Sam some suggestions.
This week's proposal comes from Jon Reitzenstein of
North Portland. As a reward for his civic-mindedness, we're
treating the University of Portland student to a large pie
from (where else?) Old Town Pizza. If you want to join the
fun, send us your best ideas.
Hint: If you want your clever prose to be readable, keep
it short. Send your entries to:
Tanks for the Memories:
Mail: 822 SW 10th Ave., Portland, OR 97205
Fax: 243-1115
E-mail: tanked@wweek.com
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